It's always a 'g'day' at Boomerang Bay

Trey Tolbert (left) of Dallas, N.C., braved the crowded conditions and long lines on the Memorial Day holiday to bring his three children to the new Boomerang Bay water park. Here he waits for one of his sons to finish the water slide ride at Jackaroo Landing.

Jill Doss-Raines/The Dispatch

Published: Friday, June 2, 2006 at 12:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, June 2, 2006 at 1:37 p.m.

Editor's note: With the price of gas hovering close to $3 a gallon, many families may not venture too far from home on weeklong vacations this summer. The Dispatch is offering a few travel ideas for families this season in a feature called Day Trips. These destinations are places mom and dad can take their young ones for a day of fun without breaking the bank on gas and overnight accommodations.

BY JILL DOSS-RAINES

The Dispatch

CHARLOTTE | Paramount's Carowinds officials are hoping its new Australian-themed water park will put it on top of everyone's vacation destination list this summer.

Called Boomerang Bay, the park opened to the public May 20 with two new water attractions aimed at its youngest patrons and has renamed all of its other slides and water activities to have an Aussie flair. During Monday's Memorial Day holiday from work, my husband and I packed up the Camry with two beach bags of supplies, a cooler and our 21/2 year old for a day in the sun at the 16-acre Boomerang Bay.

The newest attractions are Kookaburra Bay and Platypus Plunge. Kookaburra Bay is very secluded from the other attractions - so secluded that I walked around the park twice before I noticed the one sign pointing me in the direction of the pathway leading to the 125,000-gallon lagoon. Overall, I noticed signage, or lack of it, was an area that Carowinds officials need to do a better job of inside the water park and amusement park. Many of our fellow parkgoers commented that they even had a hard time finding Boomerang Bay because you must meander through the Carowinds park to reach the water park gates. More signs would help this.

Once Kookaburra Bay was reached, it was a great find. The large pool is set up for a zero to 3-foot deep swimming experience. Two rain-drop mushroom fountains and geyser bubblers were a big draw for the shortest patrons. It was nice to have an area our 37-inch-tall son could splash around freely without worrying about deep water.

Platypus Plunge is a great addition to the other young children's swimming holes called Wallaby Wharf and Kangaroo Lagoon. The attraction is a water-tubing adventure designed for young children at least 54 inches tall. If you are taller than 54 inches, you have to be with a child to ride the slides. If you are shorter than 36 inches, you have to be accompanied by an adult on the ride.

Riders grab a blue raft from someone whose ride has just ended to take a whirl on one of the two 125-foot-long slides. Literature provided states they can accommodate about 300 riders per hour. That seemed a bit high considering our long wait in line. But when it was our turn, the smile on our son's face as he glided like a free bird down the slide was worth the wait.

Scott Anderson, public relations manager for Paramount's Carowinds, said re-theming Paramount's amusement park attractions has been successful at other properties in Virginia and Cincinnati, so they decided it was time to try it here. Australia was a natural choice, he said, because Americans associate the island continent with water.

Making the two new water attractions for Boomerang Bay's smallest customers was a natural step, he added, in the park's appeal as a family-oriented park.

"This is something you can do with mom and dad and your grandparents," he said.

Trey Tolbert of Dallas, N.C., braved the crowded conditions and long lines on the Memorial Day holiday to bring his three children, ages 2, 4 and 5, to the water park. He has come to Carowinds and its sister water park his whole life, but this was his first trip with his children.

"I love them, and I want them to have fun," he said. "And that's what they are doing."

The thrill's not gone

For the older children, or the young at heart, there are plenty of thrilling water rides with much faster speeds. For example, Pipeline Peak is an 80-foot high spiraling ride you take with nothing between you and the ride but skin. No rafts are used on this hair-raiser.

Sydney Sidewinder and Awesome Aussie Twister are also super-fast water attractions for the thrill-seekers. Sydney Sidewinder speeds guests through a winding 370-foot chute, while the Awesome Aussie Twister is an enclosed experience that plunges riders into total darkness as they speed through giant tubes.

Crocodile Run has a slower pace and can be enjoyed on a single person raft or a two-seater. The 1,000-foot-long lazy river takes guests along a path that travels in and out of North Carolina and South Carolina. Carowinds straddles the two states' border.

Other attractions are the Great Barrier Reef, a 25,000-square-foot wave pool, and Jackaroo Landing, a three-story water jungle gym complete with child-controlled water sprayers, water wheels and a huge 1,000-gallon drenching bucket that dumps water every few minutes. The crowds lined up all day waiting for the huge bucket to dump water all over them.

Some practical advice

Since the Kangaroo Lagoon and Wallaby Wharf areas are designed for infants and toddlers, the shallow swimming areas include many water features that will delight the tikes. Our son couldn't stop running through the water spout streams rising from the walkway into the pool at Kangaroo Lagoon. He also liked the slide and other water manipulates at Wallaby Wharf.

There are plenty of rest room facilities, including a family rest room, and plenty of changing tables in between these two pools, so you don't have to walk far with your tikes. There is also an ample amount of shade provided from harmful sun rays under huge umbrellas and trees inside the park and near the water attractions.

However, park officials need to seriously think about adding an area for nursing moms and their babies in Boomerang Bay. The only nursing room was far away in the main park.

Also, lounge chairs are at a premium in Boomerang Bay. The park advertises it has 825 chairs. Most of those were gone Monday before the general public was allowed in, however, because platinum pass customers are allowed to enter the park 30 minutes early.

One other warning: Bring plenty of money to eat lunch or dinner. Nothing, not even the bottled water, is cheap. Our family of three dined on fast food - a burger, chicken tenders, slice of pizza, two fries, two desserts and two drinks - at Wings just outside of the water park in Carowinds. The final tab was $35.95. My dad called that robbery without a gun, if you get what I mean. Bottled water is $3.25 each, so bring your own in a soft, collapsible cooler. You can also bring in snack food.

There is no separate entrance straight into Boomerang Bay. The water park is a pretty good hike from either the North or South gate, and signage is sparse directing you on the right course, so pay attention. It's advisable to bring a children's wagon or other wheeled device to haul your towels, sunscreen, cooler and snacks to and from the parking lot.

There is also no separate admission price for Boomerang Bay from the Carowinds amusement park. The park owners advertise you get in free to Boomerang Bay with the admission price into the amusement park. However, my husband and I wondered who could do both parks spanning 108 acres in one day. You would need at least one day each to experience each park. The regular admission price is $49.99 at the gate for anyone ages 7 to 54. You can use this ticket for two days.

But using a discount, like we did, means you can only use your ticket one day. We used discount coupons from Bojangles restaurant for $20 off the $49.99 price on Memorial Day weekend. The same coupons are good for $10 off admission through June 25. Children and seniors are offered a discount. Children age 2 and under get in free. The best way to get a discount any time is to purchase tickets online at www.carowinds.com.

Jill Doss-Raines can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 219, or at jill.doss-raines@the-dispatch.com.

<p>Editor's note: With the price of gas hovering close to $3 a gallon, many families may not venture too far from home on weeklong vacations this summer. The Dispatch is offering a few travel ideas for families this season in a feature called Day Trips. These destinations are places mom and dad can take their young ones for a day of fun without breaking the bank on gas and overnight accommodations.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><h3>BY JILL DOSS-RAINES</h3>
<p>The Dispatch</p><p>CHARLOTTE | Paramount's Carowinds officials are hoping its new Australian-themed water park will put it on top of everyone's vacation destination list this summer.</p><p>Called Boomerang Bay, the park opened to the public May 20 with two new water attractions aimed at its youngest patrons and has renamed all of its other slides and water activities to have an Aussie flair. During Monday's Memorial Day holiday from work, my husband and I packed up the Camry with two beach bags of supplies, a cooler and our 21/2 year old for a day in the sun at the 16-acre Boomerang Bay.</p><p>The newest attractions are Kookaburra Bay and Platypus Plunge. Kookaburra Bay is very secluded from the other attractions - so secluded that I walked around the park twice before I noticed the one sign pointing me in the direction of the pathway leading to the 125,000-gallon lagoon. Overall, I noticed signage, or lack of it, was an area that Carowinds officials need to do a better job of inside the water park and amusement park. Many of our fellow parkgoers commented that they even had a hard time finding Boomerang Bay because you must meander through the Carowinds park to reach the water park gates. More signs would help this.</p><p>Once Kookaburra Bay was reached, it was a great find. The large pool is set up for a zero to 3-foot deep swimming experience. Two rain-drop mushroom fountains and geyser bubblers were a big draw for the shortest patrons. It was nice to have an area our 37-inch-tall son could splash around freely without worrying about deep water.</p><p>Platypus Plunge is a great addition to the other young children's swimming holes called Wallaby Wharf and Kangaroo Lagoon. The attraction is a water-tubing adventure designed for young children at least 54 inches tall. If you are taller than 54 inches, you have to be with a child to ride the slides. If you are shorter than 36 inches, you have to be accompanied by an adult on the ride.</p><p>Riders grab a blue raft from someone whose ride has just ended to take a whirl on one of the two 125-foot-long slides. Literature provided states they can accommodate about 300 riders per hour. That seemed a bit high considering our long wait in line. But when it was our turn, the smile on our son's face as he glided like a free bird down the slide was worth the wait.</p><p>Scott Anderson, public relations manager for Paramount's Carowinds, said re-theming Paramount's amusement park attractions has been successful at other properties in Virginia and Cincinnati, so they decided it was time to try it here. Australia was a natural choice, he said, because Americans associate the island continent with water.</p><p>Making the two new water attractions for Boomerang Bay's smallest customers was a natural step, he added, in the park's appeal as a family-oriented park.</p><p>"This is something you can do with mom and dad and your grandparents," he said.</p><p>Trey Tolbert of Dallas, N.C., braved the crowded conditions and long lines on the Memorial Day holiday to bring his three children, ages 2, 4 and 5, to the water park. He has come to Carowinds and its sister water park his whole life, but this was his first trip with his children.</p><p>"I love them, and I want them to have fun," he said. "And that's what they are doing."</p><p>The thrill's not gone</p><p>For the older children, or the young at heart, there are plenty of thrilling water rides with much faster speeds. For example, Pipeline Peak is an 80-foot high spiraling ride you take with nothing between you and the ride but skin. No rafts are used on this hair-raiser.</p><p>Sydney Sidewinder and Awesome Aussie Twister are also super-fast water attractions for the thrill-seekers. Sydney Sidewinder speeds guests through a winding 370-foot chute, while the Awesome Aussie Twister is an enclosed experience that plunges riders into total darkness as they speed through giant tubes.</p><p>Crocodile Run has a slower pace and can be enjoyed on a single person raft or a two-seater. The 1,000-foot-long lazy river takes guests along a path that travels in and out of North Carolina and South Carolina. Carowinds straddles the two states' border.</p><p>Other attractions are the Great Barrier Reef, a 25,000-square-foot wave pool, and Jackaroo Landing, a three-story water jungle gym complete with child-controlled water sprayers, water wheels and a huge 1,000-gallon drenching bucket that dumps water every few minutes. The crowds lined up all day waiting for the huge bucket to dump water all over them.</p><p>Some practical advice</p><p>Since the Kangaroo Lagoon and Wallaby Wharf areas are designed for infants and toddlers, the shallow swimming areas include many water features that will delight the tikes. Our son couldn't stop running through the water spout streams rising from the walkway into the pool at Kangaroo Lagoon. He also liked the slide and other water manipulates at Wallaby Wharf.</p><p>There are plenty of rest room facilities, including a family rest room, and plenty of changing tables in between these two pools, so you don't have to walk far with your tikes. There is also an ample amount of shade provided from harmful sun rays under huge umbrellas and trees inside the park and near the water attractions.</p><p>However, park officials need to seriously think about adding an area for nursing moms and their babies in Boomerang Bay. The only nursing room was far away in the main park.</p><p>Also, lounge chairs are at a premium in Boomerang Bay. The park advertises it has 825 chairs. Most of those were gone Monday before the general public was allowed in, however, because platinum pass customers are allowed to enter the park 30 minutes early.</p><p>One other warning: Bring plenty of money to eat lunch or dinner. Nothing, not even the bottled water, is cheap. Our family of three dined on fast food - a burger, chicken tenders, slice of pizza, two fries, two desserts and two drinks - at Wings just outside of the water park in Carowinds. The final tab was $35.95. My dad called that robbery without a gun, if you get what I mean. Bottled water is $3.25 each, so bring your own in a soft, collapsible cooler. You can also bring in snack food.</p><p>There is no separate entrance straight into Boomerang Bay. The water park is a pretty good hike from either the North or South gate, and signage is sparse directing you on the right course, so pay attention. It's advisable to bring a children's wagon or other wheeled device to haul your towels, sunscreen, cooler and snacks to and from the parking lot.</p><p>There is also no separate admission price for Boomerang Bay from the Carowinds amusement park. The park owners advertise you get in free to Boomerang Bay with the admission price into the amusement park. However, my husband and I wondered who could do both parks spanning 108 acres in one day. You would need at least one day each to experience each park. The regular admission price is $49.99 at the gate for anyone ages 7 to 54. You can use this ticket for two days.</p><p>But using a discount, like we did, means you can only use your ticket one day. We used discount coupons from Bojangles restaurant for $20 off the $49.99 price on Memorial Day weekend. The same coupons are good for $10 off admission through June 25. Children and seniors are offered a discount. Children age 2 and under get in free. The best way to get a discount any time is to purchase tickets online at www.carowinds.com.</p><p>Jill Doss-Raines can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 219, or at jill.doss-raines@the-dispatch.com.</p>